The Quaker Hill Historic District encompasses the center a mainly residential village in northeastern Waterford, Connecticut. Running in a mostly linear fashion along Old Norwich Road between Connecticut Route 32 and Richard Grove Road, the area first grew as a settlement of religious non-conformists in the 17th century, developed in the 19th century as a small industrial village, and became more suburban in character in the 20th century. Its architecture is reflective of these changes, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

Description and history

Waterford's Quaker Hill area was part of early land divisions when New London was settled by English Colonists in the mid-17th century. Much of the land in the area was acquired by James Rogers, whose family eventually split from the local Congregationalist church to form a sect (called "Rogerenes" after their leader) that borrowed from both Baptist and

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

theology. The Rogerenes refused to accept colonial authority or pay ministerial taxes, and the village they formed developed without the traditional central

meeting house A meeting house (meetinghouse, meeting-house) is a building where religious and sometimes public meetings take place. Terminology Nonconformist Protestant denominations distinguish between a * church, which is a body of people who believe in Chr ...

. In 1792, Old Norwich Road was built through the area as a turnpike, joining New London and Norwich. Only a few buildings survive in the village prior to its construction, including the only stone house, built in 1794 for Christopher Green. In the 19th century, the village flourished as a local center of the papermaking industry, and it developed as a

streetcar suburb A streetcar suburb is a residential community whose growth and development was strongly shaped by the use of streetcar lines as a primary means of transportation. Such suburbs developed in the United States in the years before the automobile, when ...

when a trolley line was run along Old Norwich Road from New London. The district is a very irregularly shaped district that generally runs along Old Norwich Road. It includes the center of the historic Quaker Hill neighborhood. It excludes non-historic properties, including entire streets, of modern-day Quaker Hill. It has 109 elements, of which 92 are contributing buildings, over a area. It also includes 16 non-contributing buildings and one non-contributing site. Most of the buildings are residential, reflecting a diversity of architectural styles across the 19th and early 20th centuries. Properties included in the district are: numbers 3 and 5 on Caroline Court; 3 Northwood Road; 2, 11, and 17 on Quaker Hill Green (Old Colchester Road); 2 Richard's Grove Road; 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, and 15 Rosemary Lane; and 54 parcels on Old Norwich Road ranging from numbers 91 to 209.

Contributing properties

Contributing properties in the district include: *the Christopher Green House, a Georgian style house dating from 1794, is the only stone building in the district. *the Benjamin Green house is a Colonial style house. and *the John Rogers House, perhaps from 1782 *Quaker Hill Baptist Church *Red Lion Tavern *Alexander House *Glassbrenner House, c. 1900, a Queen Anne/ Colonial Revival 188 Old Norwich Road *Quaker Hill School, a large brick building with two-story

pilasters In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wall ...

*Quaker Hill Firehouse, from 1927 *Ester Blum House, c. 1920, a four-square at 93 Old Norwich Road *John Burch House, c. 1800, 95 Old Norwich Road *James Moore House, c. 1860, a

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

cottage at 97 Old Norwich Road File:Green, Benjamin, House - Quaker Hill Historic District - New London County CT.jpg, Benjamin Green House (1736 or 1800) File:Green, Christopher, House - Quaker Hill Historic District - New London County CT.jpg, Chistopher Green House (1794) File:Quaker Hill Baptist Church - Quaker Hill Historic District - New London County CT.jpg, Quaker Hill Baptist Church (1835) File:Quaker Hill Historic District - 166 Old Norwich Rd, New London County CT.jpg, American Queen Anne style (1900) File:Quaker Hill Historic District - 140 Old Norwich Rd, New London County CT.jpg,

American Craftsman American Craftsman is an American domestic architectural style, inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, which included interior design, landscape design, applied arts, and decorative arts, beginning in the last years of the 19th century. Its ...

(1926) File:Quaker Hill Historic District - 167 Old Norwich Rd, New London County CT.jpg,

Bungalow A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas. The first house in England that was classified as a b ...

(1930) File:Quaker Hill Historic District - 149 Old Norwich Rd, New London County CT.jpg, Dutch Colonial Revival (1936)

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Colonial Revival architecture in Connecticut Waterford, Connecticut Historic districts in New London County, Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in New London County, Connecticut Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut

Description and history

Contributing properties

See also

References